Lately, simple color proofing has been practiced by using a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material (hereinafter referred to as the sensitive material).
Color proofing is a process used in the printing industry and takes place during a sequence that converts a color original into a final print. This is process intended to substitute trial print on an actual printing press. Various color proofing methods are known in the industry, and include silver salt sensitive material method, photopolymer transfer method, and toner transfer method. The commercially available sensitive materials used for these methods include Koncensus (Konica Corp.) Color Art, Fine Checker (Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.), Color Key (3M), and Chromarine (Du Pont).
Due to the complexity in transfer process, the photopolymer method cannot speedily provide a color proof image, and also incurs higher cost. The toner transfer method is disadvantageous in terms of environmental and health considerations due to toner fly. In contrast, the silver salt photographic method is free from these disadvantages, and provides good workability. As a result, this method speedily provides a color proof image.
One performance criterion that a color proof image should satisfy is color reproducibility comparable to that of printing inks, and color reproducibility in yellow is especially important.
The yellow coupler described in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) No. 123047/1985 provides excellent color reproducibility. The examples in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 73250/1990 describe a color proof preparation method that uses a yellow coupler described in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 123047/1985.
Recently, the pollution problem has been an important consideration. Therefore, developers for ordinary sensitive materials are now intended for low replenishing amount in order to reduce pollution load.
However, the sensitive materials for color proofing contain anti-irradiation dye in an amount greater than that of ordinary sensitive materials in order to simulate the half-tone reproducibility of final print. Decreased replenishing amount means occurrence of yellow stain, spoiled whiteness on non-image area and deteriorated hues. Therefore, processing a sensitive material with low replenishing amount is difficult.